Human and nonhuman abolitionist movements, despite their similarities, remain two distinct movements, each with unique social, political, economic, and historical circumstances.
Continue readingA Critique of Open Rescues
Open rescues, although exciting and heroic, unfortunately maintain the system as it is. This tactic therefore protects the interests of conservative foundations that maintain most grant monies. Open rescues also give non-profits something to write about and fund-raise behind.
Continue readingRape as an Anti-Speciesism Tactic and the Vegan Male Discourse
Can analogies be helpful for advancing anti-speciesism? Sometimes. Capitalizing on rape culture to scare women into compliance is cruel, however. I cannot imagine how that would be psychologically persuasive, only traumatizing.
Continue readingVeganism and Alternative Facts
The Role of Scientific Claimsmaking in a Rationalized Movementscape One of the defining features of the 21st-century Nonhuman Animal rights movement is its move to increase rationalization. This is a process that prioritizes efficacy, control,Continue reading
Can a Meat Tax Advance Animal Rights?
Vegan activists typically position speciesism as a matter of supply and demand, yet elite control over both our food supply and our government makes “voting with your dollar” a relatively impotent tactic. The problem isContinue reading
Vegan Protest is Ritualized, but is it Religious?
In my review of For the Wild: Ritual and Commitment in Radical Eco-Activism in the peer-reviewed journal Social Movement Studies, I consider the appropriateness of author Sarah Pike's argument that religiosity motivates radical anti-speciesism. AlthoughContinue reading
The Social Psychology of Veganism – Cognitive Priming
Cognitive Priming for Positive Outcomes Cognitive priming refers to the process of manipulating an audience's interpretation of information. Professors, for instance, might make subtle hints to their students about positive experiences in the classroom hopingContinue reading
The Social Psychology of Veganism – The Illusion of Transparency
What is the Illusion of Transparency? The illusion of transparency refers to the mistaken assumption that others can read our internal states quite easily. Humans, as social animals, are quite good at reading the bodyContinue reading
The Social Psychology of Veganism – Prosocial Media Modeling
Social psychological research conducted in the 1970s finds that children exposed to prosocial programs like Sesame Street significantly increased their prosocial behaviors. This was especially true of those children with low baseline prosocial tendencies (CoatesContinue reading
The Social Psychology of Veganism – Vividness Doesn’t Persuade
Frequently, social psychological research refutes what we take to be common sense when it comes to behavioral motivation and attitude formation. This is certainly the case with presentation vividness. Although it is easy to assumeContinue reading